The Netherlands' Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival stormed to victory in the third leg of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series in Stockholm, Sweden this afternoon. The 31year old rider who suffered such deep disappointment when eliminated on her first appearance at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky in September after Parzival bit his tongue, bounced back with a performance that had "winner" written all over it. And it was a special moment as Cornelissen celebrated her third consecutive victory at the Swedish venue where she also topped the Freestyle line-up in 2008 and 2009.

On yet another great day for Dutch dressage, nine-time FEI World Cup™ Dressage champion Anky Van Grunsven produced a lovely Freestyle test from IPS Painted Black to secure runner-up spot ahead of Edward Gal and Interfloor Next One in third. Germany's Isabell Werth, winner at the first two legs of the series in Odense, Denmark and Lyon, France did not compete this afternoon but still heads up the series leaderboard going into the next round at Olympia in London in December. However the Dutch contingent look set to pose a serious threat to the leading pack in the coming weeks.

LED THE WAY
It was Helen Langehanenberg, reserve rider for the German dressage team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, who led the way at the halfway stage after racking up a score of 72.10 with an impressive performance from Damon Hill NRW. The 28 year old rider first competed this stallion when her tutor, Ingrid Klimke, broke her shoulder in 2005 and subsequently topped the World Championship for Young Dressage horses with him. And today the partnership showed further promise in their very first World Cup class together, the 10 year old horse displaying exceptional gentility in his elegant extended trot and light and lively canter-work to earn artistic marks of over 70 per cent from all five judges.

Their target-score remained in place until German counterparts, Matthias Alexander Rath and Sterntaler-Unicef, put 74.40 on the board with a smooth and fluid test but, fourth-last into the arena, Edward Gal further raised the bar with a score of 75.05 from Interfloor Next one with which he won both the Grand Prix and Freestyle at the 3-Star show in Oslo, Norway last month. "He was a little bit tense today, I guess he is not used to being photographed so much!" said the Dutchman who has earned superstar status in the sport of dressage following his extraordinarily successful partnership with the record-breaking stallion Moorlands Totilas which was sold to Germany in the immediate aftermath of their triple gold medal winning success at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. "Towards the end he could relax and he did a good job. I´m pleased” said Gal whose trademark precision and soft riding style was very much in evidence once again today.

SWEPT HIM ASIDE
His lead was short-lived however as Van Grunsven swept him aside with a great performance from IPS Painted Black. Wonderful canter half-pass, fabulous extended trot and the ability to stay in rhythm to their score, even in walk, saw them register a mark of 81.15 and threw down the gauntlet to the remaining two riders. "This is one of my best Freestyles ever with Painted Black! We had one little mistake in the extended canter, but except that everything went just the way I wanted!" said the very pleased multiple champion afterwards. However Cornelissen and Parzival were well up to the challenge, the powerful chestnut's lovely balanced pirouettes, easy canter changes and big, open canter half-pass building up to the strong finish that put 83.85 on the board to leave the result in no doubt - Sweden's Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic having to settle for fourth place with a score of 74.75 when last into the ring.

"It's really good to be back!" said Cornelissen afterwards. "Kentucky didn't go the way I planned it but Parzival was in great shape then, there's no question about that, and he's back in great shape again now" she added. She said she gave him a break after their disappointing early departure from Kentucky - "and then I slowly built him up again with training. This is our first competition since then and he was really calm and relaxed today - he was a happy athlete!" she added. Now she plans to take him to Olympia in London in December and she has the qualifiers in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in January and Gothenburg. Sweden in February in her sights for the new year. "I'm hoping to get to the final in Leipzig - that's my goal" she pointed out.

The next leg of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ series takes place at Olympia, London 14-15 December. For all information on the London fixture go to website www.olympiahorseshow.com or contact Press Officer Kelly Smith, Email kellys@hpower.co.uk, Tel +44 s1753 847 900.

Facts and Figures:
Stockholm staged the third leg of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series.
Today's winner, Adelinde Cornelissen from The Netherlands, previously won the FEI World Cup™ qualifier at the same venue in 2008 and 2009.

Adelinde Cornelissen, talking about having to leave the arena with Parzival during the prize-giving today - “I was asked to take Parzival to the prize giving, and I wanted to, for the crowd, but it was too much for him..."

FEI World Cup™ Dressage, the only worldwide series in this discipline, has entered its 26th season. The series, created in 1985, comprises four leagues: Western European, Central European, North American (including Canada) and Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Asia). Each FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifier consists of a Grand Prix test, which in turn is a qualification for the Freestyle to music competition, where league points are accumulated towards places in the Final. Judged on both technical and artistic merit, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage combines art, sport and partnership between horse and rider at the highest level and consistently proves a winning formula with audiences all over the world.

Technical Note: The FEI World Cup Dressage™ Champion does not earn points in his/her starts but is automatically qualified to the next Final with two FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifiers completed. Riders not belonging to the Western European League (WEL) or Central European League (CEL) cannot earn points in the WEL unless they have declared to compete in the WEL 2009/2010. These riders may however transfer the results from a maximum of three (3) WEL qualifiers to their own League. Points earned by CEL riders will be transferred to the CEL standings.